The Indigenous languages of the Americas are a diverse group of languages that originated in the Americas prior to colonization, many of which continue to be spoken. Over a thousand of these languages are still used today, while many more are now extinct. The Indigenous languages of the Americas are not all related to each other; instead, they are classified into a hundred or so language families (including a large number of language isolates), as well as a number of extinct languages that are unclassified due to the lack of information on them.
Many proposals have been made to relate some or all of these languages to each other, with varying degrees of success. The most widely reported is Joseph Greenberg's Amerind hypothesis,[1] which, however, nearly all specialists reject because of severe methodological flaws; spurious data; and a failure to distinguish cognation, contact, and coincidence.[2]
According to UNESCO, most of the Indigenous languages of the Americas are critically endangered, and many are dormant (without native speakers but with a community of heritage-language users) or entirely extinct.[3] [4] The most widely spoken Indigenous languages are Southern Quechua (spoken primarily in southern Peru and Bolivia) and Guarani (centered in Paraguay, where it shares national language status with Spanish), with perhaps six or seven million speakers apiece (including many of European descent in the case of Guarani). Only half a dozen others have more than a million speakers; these are Aymara of Bolivia and Nahuatl of Mexico, with almost two million each; the Mayan languages Kekchi, Quiché, and Yucatec of Guatemala and Mexico, with about 1 million apiece; and perhaps one or two additional Quechuan languages in Peru and Ecuador. In the United States, 372,000 people reported speaking an Indigenous language at home in the 2010 census.[5] In Canada, 133,000 people reported speaking an Indigenous language at home in the 2011 census.[6] In Greenland, about 90% of the population speaks Greenlandic, the most widely spoken Eskaleut language.
Over a thousand known languages were spoken by various peoples in North and South America prior to their first contact with Europeans. These encounters occurred between the beginning of the 11th century (with the Nordic settlement of Greenland and failed efforts in Newfoundland and Labrador) and the end of the 15th century (the voyages of Christopher Columbus). Several Indigenous cultures of the Americas had also developed their own writing systems,[7] the best known being the Maya script.[8] The Indigenous languages of the Americas had widely varying demographics, from the Quechuan languages, Aymara, Guarani, and Nahuatl, which had millions of active speakers, to many languages with only several hundred speakers. After pre-Columbian times, several Indigenous creole languages developed in the Americas, based on European, Indigenous and African languages.
The European colonizing nations and their successor states had widely varying attitudes towards Native American languages. In Brazil, friars learned and promoted the Tupi language.[9] In many Spanish colonies, Spanish missionaries often learned local languages and culture in order to preach to the natives in their own tongue and relate the Christian message to their Indigenous religions. In the British American colonies, John Eliot of the Massachusetts Bay Colony translated the Bible into the Massachusett language, also called Wampanoag, or Natick (1661–1663); he published the first Bible printed in North America, the Eliot Indian Bible.
The Europeans also suppressed use of Indigenous languages, establishing their own languages for official communications, destroying texts in other languages, and insisted that Indigenous people learn European languages in schools. As a result, Indigenous languages suffered from cultural suppression and loss of speakers. By the 18th and 19th centuries, Spanish, English, Portuguese, French, and Dutch, brought to the Americas by European settlers and administrators, had become the official or national languages of modern nation-states of the Americas.
Many Indigenous languages have become critically endangered, but others are vigorous and part of daily life for millions of people. Several Indigenous languages have been given official status in the countries where they occur, such as Guaraní in Paraguay. In other cases official status is limited to certain regions where the languages are most spoken. Although sometimes enshrined in constitutions as official, the languages may be used infrequently in de facto official use. Examples are Quechua in Peru and Aymara in Bolivia, where in practice, Spanish is dominant in all formal contexts.
In the North American Arctic region, Greenland in 2009 elected Kalaallisut[10] as its sole official language. In the United States, the Navajo language is the most spoken Native American language, with more than 200,000 speakers in the Southwestern United States. The US Marine Corps recruited Navajo men, who were established as code talkers during World War II.
See also: Settlement of the Americas. In American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America (1997), Lyle Campbell lists several hypotheses for the historical origins of Amerindian languages.[11]
Roger Blench (2008) has advocated the theory of multiple migrations along the Pacific coast of peoples from northeastern Asia, who already spoke diverse languages. These proliferated in the New World.[12]
Countries like Mexico, Bolivia, Venezuela, Guatemala, and Guyana recognize most Indigenous languages. Bolivia and Venezuela give all Indigenous languages official status. Canada, Argentina, and the U.S. allow provinces and states to decide. Brazil limits recognition to localities.
Canada
Bill C-91, passed in 2019, supports Indigenous languages through sustainable funding and the Office of the Commissioner of Indigenous Languages. The first Commissioner of Indigenous languages in Canada is Ronald E. Ignace. [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19]
Colombia
Colombia delegates local Indigenous language recognition to the department level according to the Colombian Constitution of 1991.
| Guaraní | Paraguay (Official Language)Bolivia Corrientes, Argentina Tacuru, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil | Paraguay, Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil | [20] | ||
| Southern Quechua | (outdated figure) | Bolivia (Official Language)Peru (Official Language) Jujuy, Argentina
| Bolivia, Peru, Argentina, Chile | ||
| Nahuatl | Mexico | Mexico | [21] | ||
| Aymara | Bolivia (Official Language)Peru (Official Language)
| Bolivia, Peru, Chile | |||
| Qʼeqchiʼ | GuatemalaBelize Mexico | Guatemala, Belize, Mexico | |||
| Kʼicheʼ | Guatemala Mexico | Guatemala & Mexico | |||
| Yucatec Maya | Mexico Belize | Mexico & Belize | [22] | ||
| Ancash Quechua | (outdated figure) | Peru | |||
| Mam | GuatemalaMexico | Guatemala & Mexico | |||
| Tzeltal | Mexico | Mexico | |||
| Mixtec | Mexico | Mexico | [23] | ||
| Tzotzil | Mexico | Mexico | |||
| Zapotec | Mexico | Mexico | |||
| Kichwa | EcuadorColombia (Cauca, Nariño, Putumayo) | Ecuador & Colombia (Cauca, Nariño, Putumayo) | |||
| Wayuu (Guajiro) | VenezuelaLa Guajira, Colombia | Venezuela & Colombia | |||
| Kaqchikel | Guatemala Mexico | Guatemala & Mexico | |||
| Otomi | Mexico | Mexico | |||
| Totonac | Mexico | Mexico | [24] | ||
| Mapuche | Cautín Province, La Araucanía, Chile (Galvarino, Padre Las Casas) | Cautín Province, La Araucanía, Chile (Galvarino, Padre Las Casas) | |||
| Ch'ol | Mexico | Mexico | |||
| Mazateco | Mexico | Mexico | |||
| Qʼanjobʼal | Guatemala Mexico | Guatemala & Mexico | |||
| Huasteco | Mexico | Mexico | |||
| Navajo | Navajo Nation, United States | Southwestern United States | |||
| Mazahua | Mexico | Mexico | |||
| Miskito | (outdated figure) | North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region, NicaraguaHonduras (Gracias a Dios) | Nicaragua, Honduras | ||
| Chinanteco | Mexico | Mexico | |||
| Mixe | Mexico | Mexico | [25] | ||
| Tlapaneco | Mexico | Mexico | |||
| Poqomchiʼ | Guatemala | Guatemala | |||
| Purepecha/Tarasco | Mexico | Mexico | [26] | ||
| Achí | Guatemala | Guatemala | |||
| Ixil | Guatemala Mexico | Guatemala & Mexico | |||
| 100,000 (circa; outdated figure) | Peru | ||||
| Cree | [incl. Naskapi, Montagnais] | Northwest Territories, Canada | Canada | [27] | |
| Tarahumara | Mexico | Mexico | |||
| Tz'utujil | Guatemala | Guatemala | |||
| Kuna | Colombia (Chocó & Antioquia) | Colombia (Chocó & Antioquia) | |||
| Paez | 60,000 | Colombia (Cauca, Huila, Valle del Cauca) | Colombia (Cauca, Huila, Valle del Cauca) | ||
| Chuj | 59,000 | Guatemala Mexico | Guatemala & Mexico | ||
| Kalaallisut (Greenlandic) | 57,000 | Greenland | Greenland | [28] | |
| Amuzgo | 55,588 | Mexico | Mexico | ||
| Tojolabʼal | 51,733 | Mexico | Mexico | ||
| Garífuna | 50,000 (circa; outdated figure) | GuatemalaBelize North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region, Nicaragua Honduras (Atlántida, Colón, Gracias a Dios) | Guatemala, Belize, Nicaragua, Honduras | ||
| Ojibwe | CanadaUnited States | Canada & United States | |||
| Tikuna | 47,000 | Colombia (Leticia, Puerto Nariño, Amazonas) | Amazonas regions of Brazil and Colombia | [29] | |
| Chatino | 45,000 | Mexico | Mexico | ||
| Huichol | 44,800 | Mexico | Mexico | ||
| Mayo | 39,600 | Mexico | Mexico | ||
| Inuktitut | 39,475 | Nunavut, CanadaNorthwest Territories, Canada | Nunavut, Northwest Territories, Quebec and Labrador, Canada | [30] | |
| Chontal Maya | 37,072 | Mexico | Mexico | ||
| Wichi | 36,135 | Chaco, Argentina | Chaco, Argentina | ||
| Tepehuán | 36,000 | Mexico | Mexico | ||
| Soteapanec | 35,050 | Mexico | Mexico | ||
| Shuar | 35,000 | Ecuador | Ecuador | [31] | |
| Blackfoot | 34,394 | Alberta, Canada & Montana, United States | [32] | ||
| Sikuani | 34,000 | Colombia (Meta, Vichada, Arauca, Guainía, Guaviare) | Colombia (Meta, Vichada, Arauca, Guainía, Guaviare) | ||
| Jakaltek | Guatemala Mexico | Guatemala & Mexico | |||
| Kom | 31,580 | Chaco, Argentina | Chaco, Argentina | ||
| Poqomam | 30,000 | Guatemala | Guatemala | ||
| Ch'orti' | 30,000 | Guatemala | Guatemala | ||
| Kaiwá | 26,500 | Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil | |||
| Sioux | 25,000 | South Dakota, United States | US | [33] | |
| Oʼodham | 23,313 | Tohono Oʼodham Nation, United StatesSalt River Pima–Maricopa Indian Community, United States Mexico | Arizona, United States | ||
| Kaigang | 22,000 | Brazil | |||
| Guambiano | 21,000 | Cauca Department, Colombia | Cauca Department, Colombia | ||
| Cora | 20,100 | Mexico | Mexico | ||
| Yanomamö | 20,000 | Venezuela | Brazil & Venezuela | ||
| Nheengatu | 19,000 | São Gabriel da Cachoeira, Amazonas, BrazilVenezuela | Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela | ||
| Yup'ik (Central Alaskan) & (Siberian) | 18,626 | Alaska, United States | Alaska, United States | ||
| Huave | 17,900 | Mexico | Mexico | [34] | |
| Yaqui | 17,546 | Mexico | Mexico | ||
| Piaroa | 17,000 | Vichada, Colombia | Vichada, Colombia | ||
| Sakapultek | 15,000 | Guatemala | Guatemala | ||
| Western Apache | 14,012 | San Carlos Apache Nation, United StatesFort Apache Indian Reservation, United States | Arizona, United States | ||
| Xavante | 13,300 | Mato Grosso, Brazil | |||
| Keresan | 13,073 | New Mexico, United States | |||
| Cuicatec | 13,000 | Mexico | Mexico | ||
| Awa Pit | 13,000 | Nariño Department, Colombia | Nariño Department, Colombia | ||
| Karu | 12,000 | VenezuelaGuaviare Department, Colombia São Gabriel da Cachoeira, Amazonas, Brazil, (Baníwa language) | Guaviare, Colombia & Amazonas, Brazil, (Baníwa language) | ||
| Awakatek | 11,607 | Guatemala Mexico | Guatemala Mexico | ||
| Chipewyan | 11,325 | Northwest Territories, Canada | Northwest Territories, Canada | [35] | |
| Pame | 11,000 | Mexico | Mexico | ||
| Wounaan | 10,800 | Colombia (Chocó, Cauca, Valle del Cauca) | Colombia (Chocó, Cauca, Valle del Cauca) | ||
| Choctaw | 9,600 | Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, United States | Oklahoma & Mississippi, United States | [36] | |
| Moxo | 10,000 | Bolivia | Bolivia | ||
| Kogi | 9,900 | Magdalena, Colombia | Magdalena, Colombia | ||
| Zuni | 9,620 | New Mexico, United States | [37] | ||
| Guajajara | 9,500 | Maranhão, Brazil | |||
| Sumo | 9,000 | North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region, Nicaragua | North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region, Nicaragua | ||
| Mopán | 9,000–12,000 | GuatemalaBelize | Guatemala & Belize | [38] | |
| Tepehua | 8,900 | Mexico | Mexico | ||
| Mawé | 8,900 | Brazil (Para & Amazonas) | |||
| Terêna | 8,200 | Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil | |||
| Sipakapense | 8,000 | Guatemala | Guatemala | ||
| Ika | 8,000 | Colombia (Cesar & Magdalena) | Colombia (Cesar & Magdalena) | ||
| Mi'kmaq | 7,140 | Canada and United States | |||
| Tukano | 7,100 | São Gabriel da Cachoeira, Amazonas, Brazil Mitú, Vaupés, Colombia | Amazonas, Brazil & Vaupés, Colombia | ||
| Minica Huitoto | 6,800 | Amazonas, Colombia | Amazonas, Colombia | ||
| Hopi | 6,780 | Arizona, United States | |||
| Piapoco | 6,400 | Colombia (Guainía, Vichada, Meta) | Colombia (Guainía, Vichada, Meta) | ||
| Cubeo | 6,300 | Vaupés, Colombia | Vaupés, Colombia | ||
| Kayapo | 6,200 | Brazil (Pará & Mato Grosso) | |||
| Yukpa | 6,000 | VenezuelaCesar, Colombia | Venezuela, Colombia | ||
| Chiquitano | 5,900 | Bolivia | Brazil & Bolivia | ||
| Guarayu | 5,900 | Bolivia | Bolivia | ||
| Macushi | 5,800 | Venezuela | Brazil, Venezuela, Guyana | ||
| Chimané | 5,300 | Bolivia | Bolivia | ||
| Tewa | 5,123 | New Mexico, United States | |||
| Timbira | 5,100 | Brazil (Maranhão, Tocantins, Pará) | [39] | ||
| Sanumá | 5,100 | Venezuela | Brazil & Venezuela | [40] | |
| Muscogee | 5,072 | Muscogee (Creek) Nation, OK, United States | United States (Oklahoma, Alabama, Florida) | ||
| Chontal of Oaxaca | 5,039 | Mexico | Mexico | [41] | |
| Tektitek | 5,000 | Guatemala | Guatemala | ||
| Barí | 5,000 | Colombia (Cesar & Norte de Santander) | Colombia (Cesar & Norte de Santander) | ||
| Camsá | 4,000 | Putumayo, Colombia | Putumayo, Colombia | ||
| Kulina | 3,900 | Brazil (Amazonas) & Peru | |||
| Crow | 3,862 | Montana, United States | |||
| Mohawk | 3,875 | Mohawk Nation of Akwesasne, Canada | Canada (Ontario & Quebec) and United States (New York) | [42] [43] | |
| Kashinawa | 3,588 | Brazil & Peru | |||
| Munduruku | 3,563 | Pará & Amazonas, Brazil | |||
| Tunebo/Uwa | 3,550 | Boyacá, Colombia | Boyacá, Colombia | ||
| Ayoreo | 3,160 | Bolivia | Bolivia | ||
| Desano | 3,160 | Bolivia | Bolivia | ||
| Wapishana | 3,154 | Bonfim, Roraima, BrazilGuyana | Bonfim, Roraima, BrazilGuyana | [44] | |
| Yaminawa | 3,129 | Bolivia | Bolivia | ||
| Mocoví | 3,000 | Chaco, Argentina | Chaco, Argentina | ||
| Iñupiaq | 3,000 | Alaska, United StatesNorthwest Territories, Canada | Alaska, United States & Northwest Territories, Canada | ||
| Puinave | 3,000 | Guainía, ColombiaVenezuela | Guainía, Colombia & Venezuela | ||
| Cuiba | 2,900 | Colombia (Casanare, Vichada, Arauca) | Colombia (Casanare, Vichada, Arauca) | ||
| Tupi-Mondé | 2,886 | Rondônia, Brazil | |||
| Yuracaré | 2,700 | Bolivia | Bolivia | ||
| Wanano | 2,600 | Vaupés, Colombia | Vaupés, Colombia | ||
| Shoshoni | 2,512 | US | |||
| Bora | 2,400 | Amazonas, Colombia | Amazonas, Colombia | ||
| Cofán | 2,400 | Colombia (Nariño, Putumayo) | Colombia (Nariño, Putumayo) | ||
| Kanamari | 2,298 | Amazonas, Brazil | |||
| Fox (Mesquakie-Sauk-Kickapoo) | 2,288 | Sac and Fox Nation, United StatesMexico | US & Mexico | ||
| Cherokee | 2,320 | Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, North Carolina, United StatesCherokee Nation of Oklahoma, United States | US (Oklahoma & North Carolina) | ||
| Waiwai | 2,217 | Guyana | Brazil, Guyana | ||
| Karajá | 2,137 | Brazil | |||
| Huarijio | 2,136 | Mexico | Mexico | ||
| Slavey | 2,120 | Northwest Territories, Canada | Northwest Territories, Canada | ||
| Chichimeca | 2,100 | Mexico | Mexico | ||
| Koreguaje | 2,100 | Caquetá, Colombia | Caquetá, Colombia | ||
| Tiriyó | 2,100 | Brazil, Suriname | |||
| Xerente | 2,051 | Tocantins, Brazil | |||
| Uspanteko | 2,000 | Guatemala | Guatemala | ||
| Fulniô | 1,871 | Pernambuco, Brazil | |||
| Pakaásnovos (wari) | 1,854 | Rondônia, Brazil | |||
| Wiwa | 1,850 | Cesar, Colombia | Cesar, Colombia | ||
| Weenhayek | 1,810 | Bolivia | Bolivia | ||
| Matlatzinca | 1,800 | Mexico | Mexico | ||
| Tacana | 1,800 | Bolivia | Bolivia | ||
| Tłı̨chǫ Yatıì | 1,735 | Northwest Territories, Canada | Northwest Territories, Canada | ||
| Cavineña | 1,700 | Bolivia | Bolivia | ||
| Jupda | 1,700 | Amazonas, Colombia | Amazonas, Colombia | ||
| Zacatepec Mixtec | 1,500 | Mexico | Mexico | ||
| Seneca | 1,453 | Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation, Ontario, Canada | Ontario, Canada | ||
| Movima | 1,400 | Bolivia | Bolivia | ||
| Tlingit | 1,360 | Alaska, United States | Alaska, United States | ||
| Inuinnaqtun | 1,310 | Nunavut, CanadaNorthwest Territories, Canada | Alaska, United States & Northwest Territories& Nunavut, Canada | ||
| Kiowa | 1,274 | Oklahoma, United States | |||
| Ka'apor | 1,241 | Maranhão, Brazil | |||
| Aleut | 1,236 | Alaska, United States | Alaska, United States | ||
| Gwichʼin | 1,217 | Alaska, United StatesNorthwest Territories, Canada | Alaska, United States & Northwest Territories, Canada | ||
| Inuvialuktun | 1,150 | Nunavut, CanadaNorthwest Territories, Canada | Nunavut, Canada & Northwest Territories, Canada | ||
| Arapaho | 1,087 | US | |||
| Macuna | 1,032 | Vaupés, Colombia | Vaupés, Colombia | ||
| Guayabero | 1,000 | Colombia (Meta, Guaviare) | Colombia (Meta, Guaviare) | ||
| Chocho | 810 | Mexico | Mexico | ||
| Maricopa/Piipaash | 800 | Salt River Pima–Maricopa Indian Community, AZ, United States | Arizona, United States | ||
| Rama | 740 | North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region, Nicaragua | North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region, Nicaragua | ||
| Seri | 729 | Mexico | Mexico | [45] | |
| Ese Ejja | 700 | Bolivia | Bolivia | ||
| Nukak | 700 | Guaviare, Colombia | Guaviare, Colombia | ||
| Pima Bajo | 650 | Mexico | Mexico | ||
| Cayuvava | 650 | Bolivia | Bolivia | ||
| 600 | Bolivia | Bolivia | |||
| Lacandon | 600 | Mexico | Mexico | ||
| Oneida | 574 | Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation, Ontario, CanadaOneida Nation of the Thames, Ontario, Canada | Ontario, Canada | [46] [47] [48] | |
| Cocopah | 515 | Mexico | Mexico | [49] | |
| Sirionó | 500 | Bolivia | Bolivia | ||
| Siona | 500 | Putumayo, Colombia | Putumayo, Colombia | ||
| Havasupai–Hualapai | 445 | Havasupai Indian Reservation, AZ, United States | Arizona, United States | [50] | |
| Kumeyaay | 427 (525 including Ipai and Tiipai languages) | Mexico
| Baja California, Mexico & California, United States | [51] [52] | |
| Tembé | 420 | Maranhão, Brazil | |||
| Yurok | 414 | California, United States | |||
| Alutiiq/Sugpiaq | 400 | Alaska, United States | Alaska, United States | ||
| Tatuyo | 400 | Vaupés, Colombia | Vaupés, Colombia | ||
| Andoque | 370 | Caquetá, Colombia | Caquetá, Colombia | ||
| Guajá | 365 | Maranhão, Brazil | |||
| Chimila | 350 | Magdalena, Colombia | Magdalena, Colombia | ||
| Koyukon | 300 | Alaska, United States | Alaska, United States | ||
| Hitnü | 300 | Arauca, Colombia | Arauca, Colombia | ||
| Mikasuki | 290 | United States (Florida, Georgia (Historical), Alabama (Historical), Oklahoma (Historical) | |||
| Quechan | 290 |
| California & Arizona, United States | [53] | |
| Cabiyari | 270 | Colombia (Mirití-Paraná & Amazonas) | Colombia (Mirití-Paraná & Amazonas) | ||
| Reyesano | 250 | Bolivia | Bolivia | ||
| Achagua | 250 | Meta, Colombia | Meta, Colombia | ||
| Kakwa | 250 | Vaupés, Colombia | Vaupés, Colombia | ||
| Yavapai | 245 | Arizona, United States | [54] | ||
| Siriano | 220 | Vaupés, Colombia | Vaupés, Colombia | ||
| Mojave | 200 | Arizona, United States | [55] | ||
| Paipai | 200 | Mexico | Mexico | ||
| Toromono | 200 | Bolivia | Bolivia | ||
| Ixcatec | 190 | Mexico | Mexico | ||
| Ocaina | 190 | Amazonas, Colombia | Amazonas, Colombia | ||
| Haida | 168 | Alaska, United StatesCouncil of the Haida Nation, Canada | Alaska, United States and British Columbia, Canada | ||
| Muinane | 150 | Amazonas, Colombia | Amazonas, Colombia | ||
| Deg Xinag | 127 | Alaska, United States | Alaska, United States | ||
| Warázu | 125 | Bolivia | Bolivia | ||
| Araona | 110 | Bolivia | Bolivia | ||
| Upper Tanana | 100 | Alaska, United States | Alaska, United States | ||
| Itene | 90 | Bolivia | Bolivia | ||
| Ahtna | 80 | Alaska, United States | Alaska, United States | ||
| Tsimshian | 70 | Alaska, United States | Alaska, United States | ||
| Tanacross | 65 | Alaska, United States | Alaska, United States | ||
| Cayuga | 61 | Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation, Ontario, CanadaCattaraugus Reservation, New York, United States | Ontario, Canada, and New York, United States | [56] | |
| Denaʼina | 50 | Alaska, United States | Alaska, United States | ||
| Onondaga | 50 | Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation, ON, Canada | Ontario, Canada | ||
| Bauré | 40 | Bolivia | Bolivia | ||
| Upper Kuskokwim | 40 | Alaska, United States | Alaska, United States | ||
| Tanana | 30 | Alaska, United States | Alaska, United States | ||
| Ayapaneco | 24 | Mexico | Mexico | ||
| Leco | 20 | Bolivia | Bolivia | ||
| Xincan | 16 | Guatemala | Guatemala | ||
| Hän | 12 | Alaska, United States | Alaska, United States | ||
| Holikachuk | 12 | Alaska, United States | Alaska, United States | ||
| Comanche | 9 | US | |||
| Carijona | 6 | Colombia (Amazonas, Guaviare) | Colombia (Amazonas, Guaviare) | ||
| Itonama | 5 | Bolivia | Bolivia | ||
| Kiliwa | 4 | Mexico | Mexico | ||
| Selk'nam | 1 | Tierra del Fuego, Chile/Argentina (Extinct) | [57] | ||
| Nonuya | 0 | Amazonas, Colombia | Colombia, Peru | ||
| Yahgan | 0 | Tierra del Fuego, Chile/Argentina (Extinct) | |||
| Taíno languages | 0 | Formerly all of the Caribbean | |||
| Cochimí | 0 | Mexico (Extinct, but retains recognition) | |||
| Kallawaya | 0 | Bolivia (Extinct, but retains recognition) | |||
| Eyak | 0 | Alaska, United States (Extinct, but retains recognition) | |||
| Tuscarora | 0 | Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation, Ontario, Canada Tuscarora Reservation, New York, United States | Ontario, Canada, and New York, United States | [58] |
Notes:
There are approximately 296 spoken (or formerly spoken) Indigenous languages north of Mexico, 269 of which are grouped into 29 families (the remaining 27 languages are either isolates or unclassified). The Na-Dené, Algic, and Uto-Aztecan families are the largest in terms of number of languages. Uto-Aztecan has the most speakers (1.95 million) if the languages in Mexico are considered (mostly due to 1.5 million speakers of Nahuatl); Na-Dené comes in second with approximately 200,000 speakers (nearly 180,000 of these are speakers of Navajo), and Algic in third with about 180,000 speakers (mainly Cree and Ojibwe). Na-Dené and Algic have the widest geographic distributions: Algic currently spans from northeastern Canada across much of the continent down to northeastern Mexico (due to later migrations of the Kickapoo) with two outliers in California (Yurok and Wiyot); Na-Dené spans from Alaska and western Canada through Washington, Oregon, and California to the U.S. Southwest and northern Mexico (with one outlier in the Plains). Several families consist of only 2 or 3 languages. Demonstrating genetic relationships has proved difficult due to the great linguistic diversity present in North America. Two large (super-) family proposals, Penutian and Hokan, look particularly promising. However, even after decades of research, a large number of families remain.
North America is notable for its linguistic diversity, especially in California. This area has 18 language families comprising 74 languages (compared to five families in Europe: Indo-European, Uralic, Turkic, Kartvelian, and Afroasiatic and one isolate, Basque).[59]
Another area of considerable diversity appears to have been the Southeastern Woodlands; however, many of these languages became extinct from European contact and as a result they are, for the most part, absent from the historical record. This diversity has influenced the development of linguistic theories and practice in the US.
Due to the diversity of languages in North America, it is difficult to make generalizations for the region. Most North American languages have a relatively small number of vowels (i.e. three to five vowels). Languages of the western half of North America often have relatively large consonant inventories. The languages of the Pacific Northwest are notable for their complex phonotactics (for example, some languages have words that lack vowels entirely).[60] The languages of the Plateau area have relatively rare pharyngeals and epiglottals (they are otherwise restricted to Afroasiatic languages and the languages of the Caucasus). Ejective consonants are also common in western North America, although they are rare elsewhere (except, again, for the Caucasus region, parts of Africa, and the Mayan family).
Head-marking is found in many languages of North America (as well as in Central and South America), but outside of the Americas it is rare. Many languages throughout North America are polysynthetic (Eskaleut languages are extreme examples), although this is not characteristic of all North American languages (contrary to what was believed by 19th-century linguists). Several families have unique traits, such as the inverse number marking of the Tanoan languages, the lexical affixes of the Wakashan, Salishan and Chimakuan languages, and the unusual verb structure of Na-Dené.
The classification below is a composite of Goddard (1996), Campbell (1997), and Mithun (1999).
See also: List of unclassified languages of North America.
In Central America the Mayan languages are among those used today. Mayan languages are spoken by at least six million Indigenous Maya, primarily in Guatemala, Mexico, Belize and Honduras. In 1996, Guatemala formally recognized 21 Mayan languages by name, and Mexico recognizes eight more. The Mayan language family is one of the best documented and most studied in the Americas. Modern Mayan languages descend from Proto-Mayan, a language thought to have been spoken at least 4,000 years ago; it has been partially reconstructed using the comparative method.
See also: Mesoamerican languages.
See main article: Indigenous languages of South America.
Although both North and Central America are very diverse areas, South America has a linguistic diversity rivalled by only a few other places in the world with approximately 350 languages still spoken and several hundred more spoken at first contact but now extinct. The situation of language documentation and classification into genetic families is not as advanced as in North America (which is relatively well studied in many areas). Kaufman (1994: 46) gives the following appraisal:
Since the mid 1950s, the amount of published material on SA [South America] has been gradually growing, but even so, the number of researchers is far smaller than the growing number of linguistic communities whose speech should be documented. Given the current employment opportunities, it is not likely that the number of specialists in SA Indian languages will increase fast enough to document most of the surviving SA languages before they go out of use, as most of them unavoidably will. More work languishes in personal files than is published, but this is a standard problem.It is fair to say that SA and New Guinea are linguistically the poorest documented parts of the world. However, in the early 1960s fairly systematic efforts were launched in Papua New Guinea, and that areamuch smaller than SA, to be sureis in general much better documented than any part of Indigenous SA of comparable size.
As a result, many relationships between languages and language families have not been determined and some of those relationships that have been proposed are on somewhat shaky ground.
The list of language families, isolates, and unclassified languages below is a rather conservative one based on Campbell (1997). Many of the proposed (and often speculative) groupings of families can be seen in Campbell (1997), Gordon (2005), Kaufman (1990, 1994), Key (1979), Loukotka (1968), and in the Language stock proposals section below.
See also: List of unclassified languages of South America.
See main article: Classification of indigenous languages of the Americas.
Hypothetical language-family proposals of American languages are often cited as uncontroversial in popular writing. However, many of these proposals have not been fully demonstrated, or even demonstrated at all. Some proposals are viewed by specialists in a favorable light, believing that genetic relationships are very likely to be established in the future (for example, the Penutian stock). Other proposals are more controversial with many linguists believing that some genetic relationships of a proposal may be demonstrated but much of it undemonstrated (for example, Hokan–Siouan, which, incidentally, Edward Sapir called his "wastepaper basket stock").[61] Still other proposals are almost unanimously rejected by specialists (for example, Amerind). Below is a (partial) list of some such proposals:
Good discussions of past proposals can be found in Campbell (1997) and Campbell & Mithun (1979).
Amerindian linguist Lyle Campbell also assigned different percentage values of probability and confidence for various proposals of macro-families and language relationships, depending on his views of the proposals' strengths.[62] For example, the Germanic language family would receive probability and confidence percentage values of +100% and 100%, respectively. However, if Turkish and Quechua were compared, the probability value might be −95%, while the confidence value might be 95%. 0% probability or confidence would mean complete uncertainty.
| c=fam | Language Family | c=prb | Probability | c=con | Confidence | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| c=fam | Algonkian–Gulf | c=prb | −50% | c=con | 50% | |
| c=fam | Almosan (and beyond) | c=prb | −75% | c=con | 50% | |
| c=fam | Atakapa–Chitimacha | c=prb | −50% | c=con | 60% | |
| c=fam | Aztec–Tanoan | c=prb | 0% | c=con | 50% | |
| c=fam | Coahuiltecan | c=prb | −85% | c=con | 80% | |
| c=fam | Eskaleut, Chukotan[63] | c=prb | −25% | c=con | 20% | |
| c=fam | Guaicurian–Hokan | c=prb | 0% | c=con | 10% | |
| c=fam | Gulf | c=prb | −25% | c=con | 40% | |
| c=fam | Hokan–Subtiaba | c=prb | −90% | c=con | 75% | |
| c=fam | Jicaque–Hokan | c=prb | −30% | c=con | 25% | |
| c=fam | Jicaque–Subtiaba | c=prb | −60% | c=con | 80% | |
| c=fam | Jicaque–Tequistlatecan | c=prb | +65% | c=con | 50% | |
| c=fam | Keresan and Uto-Aztecan | c=prb | 0% | c=con | 60% | |
| c=fam | Keresan and Zuni | c=prb | −40% | c=con | 40% | |
| c=fam | Macro-Mayan[64] | c=prb | +30% | c=con | 25% | |
| c=fam | Macro-Siouan[65] | c=prb | −20% | c=con | 75% | |
| c=fam | Maya–Chipaya | c=prb | −80% | c=con | 95% | |
| c=fam | Maya–Chipaya–Yunga | c=prb | −90% | c=con | 95% | |
| c=fam | Mexican Penutian | c=prb | −40% | c=con | 60% | |
| c=fam | Misumalpan–Chibchan | c=prb | +20% | c=con | 50% | |
| c=fam | Mosan | c=prb | −60% | c=con | 65% | |
| c=fam | Na-Dene | c=prb | 0% | c=con | 25% | |
| c=fam | Natchez–Muskogean | c=prb | +40% | c=con | 20% | |
| c=fam | Nostratic–Amerind | c=prb | −90% | c=con | 75% | |
| c=fam | Otomanguean–Huave | c=prb | +25% | c=con | 25% | |
| c=fam | Purépecha–Quechua | c=prb | −90% | c=con | 80% | |
| c=fam | Quechua as Hokan | c=prb | −85% | c=con | 80% | |
| c=fam | Quechumaran | c=prb | +50% | c=con | 50% | |
| c=fam | Sahaptian–Klamath–(Molala) | c=prb | +75% | c=con | 50% | |
| c=fam | Sahaptian–Klamath–Tsimshian | c=prb | +10% | c=con | 10% | |
| c=fam | Takelman[66] | c=prb | +80% | c=con | 60% | |
| c=fam | Tlapanec–Subtiaba as Otomanguean | c=prb | +95% | c=con | 90% | |
| c=fam | Tlingit–Eyak–Athabaskan | c=prb | +75% | c=con | 40% | |
| c=fam | Tunican | c=prb | 0% | c=con | 20% | |
| c=fam | Wakashan and Chimakuan | c=prb | 0% | c=con | 25% | |
| c=fam | Yukian–Gulf | c=prb | −85% | c=con | 70% | |
| c=fam | Yukian–Siouan | c=prb | −60% | c=con | 75% | |
| c=fam | Zuni–Penutian | c=prb | −80% | c=con | 50% |
It has long been observed that a remarkable number of Native American languages have a pronominal pattern with first-person singular forms in n and second-person singular forms in m. (Compare first-person singular m and second-person singular t across much of northern Eurasia, as in English me and thee, Spanish me and te, and Hungarian -m and -d.) This pattern was first noted by Alfredo Trombetti in 1905. It caused Sapir to suggest that ultimately all Native American languages would turn out to be related. Johanna Nichols suggests that the pattern had spread through diffusion.[67] This notion was rejected by Lyle Campbell, who argued that the frequency of the n/m pattern was not statistically elevated in either area compared to the rest of the world.[68] Zamponi found that Nichols's findings were distorted by her small sample size. Looking at families rather than individual languages, he found a rate of 30% of families/protolanguages in North America, all on the western flank, compared to 5% in South America and 7% of non-American languages – though the percentage in North America, and especially the even higher number in the Pacific Northwest, drops considerably if Hokan and Penutian, or parts of them, are accepted as language families. If all the proposed Penutian and Hokan languages in the table below are related, then the frequency drops to 9% of North American families, statistically indistinguishable from the world average.[69]
See main article: Linguistic areas of the Americas.
Several languages are only known by mention in historical documents or from only a few names or words. It cannot be determined that these languages actually existed or that the few recorded words are actually of known or unknown languages. Some may simply be from a historian's errors. Others are of known people with no linguistic record (sometimes due to lost records). A short list is below.
Loukotka (1968) reports the names of hundreds of South American languages which do not have any linguistic documentation.
Various miscellaneous languages such as pidgins, mixed languages, trade languages, and sign languages are given below in alphabetical order.
While most Indigenous languages have adopted the Latin script as the written form of their languages, a few languages have their own unique writing systems after encountering the Latin script (often through missionaries) that are still in use. All pre-Columbian Indigenous writing systems are no longer used.